Me, Myself, and I
by agent000
Summary: Hi, my name is Katie Greene, and this is the sequal to My Body, Your Soul. Edward has been reincarnated, but not all is happily ever after. He's starting to forget who he was. Have I been possessed again? Get out of my body, whoever you are!
1. Chapter 1

**_Here is the long awaited (okay, not so long awaited) sequal to "My Body, Your Soul." I do hope that you enjoy it. Please leave me feedback with your comments and suggestions. Also, I realize that I'll get some things wrong about school, since I never went to a public high school, and I welcome help regarding that. Just remember that if I get most things right, then I'm doing pretty good, heh._**

**_Hey, don't get confused now, this story starts several months after the end of the last story. My stories tend to be kind of fast-paced, I realize, but I didn't want to stick around where not much was happening. It's alright if J.R.R.Tolkien wants to spend five pages trying to decide whether to stop and rest for the night or not, but that's not my style, hehe._**

**_Oh, yes, one more note. There almost seems to be an unwritten law that states, "No sequal shall be greater than or equal to the original." While I'll try to break that unwritten law, don't be too surprised if I keep it. That's what tends to happen to sequals, hehe, though I'll still try to make this story good. It's not flowing as easily as the last story, so it probably won't be as good, but hopefully will still rival it. Since it's not flowing as easily though, I might not be able to update every day either. I'll try, but don't be upset if I can't._**

**_Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy!_**

**_Disclaimer: Why do I need a disclaimer? Everyone knows that this is fan fiction since it's on so why do we do this anyway? I don't own FullMetal Alchemist!_**

Edward slammed the front door shut as soon as he stepped into the house. He threw down his backpack, and plopped own into an armchair. He placed his hand over his face and sighed. "Why did you wait for me, Katie?"

"Brother, Mom asked me to come straight home to help her with the housework. You knew that," I replied as calmly as I could. This being a small town, the Junior High and High school students all went to one school. The school year had just started a few weeks ago, so we both went to the same school. We usually would wait for each other, so that we could walk home together, but that had not been possible today.

"Did you have a bad day at school today?" I asked.

"That's the understatement of the year," complained Ed, "I had all these girls mob me all day, telling me how much I look like Edward Elric. I even pulled out my identification card to prove to them that I was Edward Greene, not Edward Elric, but they still wouldn't leave me alone."

Ah yes, the identification care. That had sure been a tough legal battle getting that for him, since he didn't have any birth records. I didn't even want to remember it.

"I imagine that that was kind of annoying," I said.

"Why do I have to look like Edward Elric, anyway?" he sighed.

"Well, Brother, you ARE Edward Elric," I said.

Edward closed his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, Katie, please, not you too! That joke's really old and not funny anymore."

"Joke?" I said, "What makes you think I'm joking?"

"How can it not be a joke that I was some famous super-kid in a past life?" said Edward indignantly, "Edward Elric isn't even real, so I wish everyone would just drop it. Why do I have to even look like the guy? Should I cut my hair? Would that get everyone off my back?" Edward slumped back in his chair, highly irritated.

"Brother…you…you don't remember…do you?"

"Remember what?" he snapped.

"You don't remember being Edward Elric."

Edward growled. "Lay off, would you?" He got up and stomped out of the room.

Tears started to come to my eyes. I could understand why Edward was so mad, but I couldn't understand how he could possibly forget all that we'd been through. What was going on? His problems were supposed to have been all taken care of when he was reincarnated. Why was this happening?

(When one is reincarnated, their conscious mind is wiped clean of all their previous life's memories. Since his was an unusual reincarnation, the erasing of his memories was a bit delayed, but it's beginning to happen.)

(Who are you?) I asked, (What are you doing in my body? Don't you know that two souls can't coexist in one body?)

(Yes,) said the voice, (I know.)

(Then what are you doing here? I can't let you stay, or we'll both die,) I said.

(I have always been here. We will not die, because there is only one soul in this body,) said the voice.

(What are you talking about?) I said, (Both my soul and your soul are sharing the same body.)

(Yes and no,) said the voice, (We're both sharing the same body, yes, but we're also sharing the same soul. Only our minds are separate.)

(What the heck?) I yelled, (Are you saying that I have a split personality?)

(No, of course not. I've been in your subconscious mind all the time. Now that there's a need, however, I came to full consciousness, since you'll obviously need my help.)

(Who the heck are you?) I demanded.

The voice paused for a moment, then said, (I'm Alphonse Elric.)

I gasped and collapsed onto the couch. (But…But how? I'm Al's reincarnation. Alphonse Elric is dead.)

(I still live through you.)

I sat silent for several minutes. Was Al really talking to me? Could a previous incarnation actually do that? Why was he suddenly appearing?

Finally, I spoke. (Al, why have you suddenly appeared? I didn't know that a previous incarnation could do that.)

(I appeared all of a sudden because with brother losing his memories, you'll need my help to help him. I know him better than you do.)

I brushed some hair out of my face. (I suppose you do,) I said, (But what will happen to you after the need is met?)

(I'll simply return to my normal unconscious state until I'm needed again, if ever,) said Al.

(Does that mean that you'll die?) I asked, horrified.

(No, nothing like that. I am you, and you are me. Whatever happens to me happens to you, and vice versa. I'm simply saying that this mind, the mind of Alphonse Elric, will go back to sleep when the need has been met. Your mind is the dominant one in this lifetime.)

(So, what do you suggest we do about Edward?) I asked.

(We need to first try and convince him of the truth of what you say about his previous existence. That should be the easy part,) said Al.

(The EASY part? Do you realize how hard that's going to be?)

(Yes,) he said, (I know Brother better than anyone, but after we achieve this first step, it'll just get more difficult. That's why you need my help so badly.)

I sighed. Would this family manage to achieve normalcy in ANY incarnation?

I got up off the couch. I had no idea what to do or say, but I figured that I might as well go talk to Edward. I climbed the stairs and entered the room next to mine, which was his. I didn't make a sound, and his back was turned towards me. Perhaps he didn't even hear me enter the room?

"What's the matter, Katie?" he said.

"Edward!" I should while waving my hands, "Don't startle me like that!"

"Startle YOU? You were the one trying to sneak up on me," he said as he spun his office chair around to face me.

"How did you know I was there?" I asked, "Did you hear me?"

Edward shrugged. "No, I didn't hear you, I just knew you were there. I sort of 'felt' it, if that makes any sense."

"_Those that display a strong psychic ability have a good chance of having been an alchemist if they were ever on the other side of the Gate during one of their previous incarnations."_

"Brother," I said, "That proves that you were Edward Elric. That proves you were an alchemist."

"For the last time," he said, irritated, "Will you just let that go?" As a reflex, he flicked his wrist. A pen then flew off his desk by itself and smacked me in the arm. We were both dumbstruck for several moments until he said, "What just happened?"

I shook my head. "I'm not quite sure. Try that again, Brother." He waved his hand again and the pen flew back to him. Of course! He was telekinetic! Being the prodigy he was, it would only make sense that his psychic abilities would be unusually strong.

"How did I do that?" Edward said, perplexed.

"You know you won't like my answer," I said, "You shouldn't ask if you don't want to hear it."

"Well, normally I wouldn't want to hear it, but normally pens to fly around when I wave my hands either. Tell me what you think this is about," said he.

I explained to him about the fact that many psychics were once alchemists, and the reason that his psychic powers were so strong was because he had been a prodigy at alchemy. He really was Edward Elric. Surprisingly, he was actually listening to me.

"If this is all true," he said, "Then why don't I remember it?"

"Because you were reincarnated and your memories were wiped clean," I said.

"Then why do you remember it?" he asked. I sighed. That was such a long story. This was going to take me awhile.

"…And so I transmuted you at the last possible moment, and that's why you're alive today," I finished. Ugh, I was thirsty after all that talking.

Edward chuckled. "Well, Katie, I'd say that you have quite an imagination." He turned back to his writing desk.

I started to fume. "What will it take to get you to believe me?" I was waving my hands around wildly.

Edward turned back around. "The first step in convincing me that I'm Edward Elric would be in proving that Edward Elric really did exist." He turned and looked at the pen resting on his desk. He flicked his wrist, and it flew into his hand. "This is awesome!" he cried.

I shook my head. Brothers, what do you do with them? I turned and left the room just as a pen hit the wall.

(Well, I didn't do too well, did I?) I said.

(You actually did a lot better than I thought you would,) consoled Al, (Brother's pretty hard-headed at times. At least you got him to listen.)

(True, but what do I do next?)

(We'll have to prove that he actually existed, somehow,) said Al.

(Yes, but how?) I wondered.

(We'll find a way, just be patient.)

I heard some laughter coming from Ed's room. He was obviously enjoying his newfound power. I just hoped that he wouldn't get too reckless with it. Of course, there was really nothing I could do about it, so I shrugged it off and went into my own room to get ready for bed.

I put on my nightgown, flicked off the light, and climbed into bed. I was about to fall asleep when I heard a loud crash in the room adjacent to mine followed by a "Whoops!"

Oh, Brother, I sighed, What am I going to do with you?

**_Well, there you have it, the first chapter in the sequal. Review and tell me whether you liked it, and give me some suggestions. I really need them for this story!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Phew! I managed to type up another chapter. I like to update every day, but I'm not sure if I can keep up this pace, heh. I'm not even ahead of you readers anymore, hehe. I just finished writing this chapter today. (It took me a few days, believe it or not. It usually only takes me a couple hours to write one chapter.) Anyway, hope that you enjoy the story. Suggestions are most welcome._**

**_By the way, I keep switching back and forth between Katie's and Ed's POV. If this is confusing, let me know. I just couldn't see how to tell the story from just Katie's POV anymore, since she and Ed aren't always together anymore. Heh._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I'm too tired to come up with a witty line, so just live with it._**

Hello, this is Edward speaking. Let's take the story from my point of view for awhile.

I forced my eyes open and wearily got up. It had been a long night. My mind had been racing, I had stayed up late, and I had constantly been worrying about whether I'd accidentally break something during my sleep. I surveyed the room. Nothing appeared to be broken, that was good.

I yawned and stretched, then stood up and proceeded to fix my hair. Were any of the things Katie was saying true? Did Edward Elric actually exist? As much as I wanted to believe, I just couldn't bring myself to do so without any evidence.

I took a good look at my hands after I had set the brush down. They were both fully flesh and perfectly formed, and I didn't have the scar of the fox bite on my right shoulder either. How could Katie say that I was the real Edward Elric if my body was…well, perfect?

I sighed, and without thinking, I flicked my wrist towards me. My backpack flew up off the ground at me, but thankfully I caught it before it hit me or anything else. There went two points to Katie: One for her explanation of my newfound ability, and one for my quick reflexes, which was something in common that I indeed shared with Edward Elric.

I threw my backpack over one shoulder, and headed downstairs to find breakfast. Katie was already sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. I plopped my backpack down beside the table and turned to my mom. "Did you make anything for me?"

"Why don't you just have a bowl of cereal like Katie?" said Mom. I could hear the concealed laughter in her voice, but that didn't really make that a funny joke.

"Yuck! It's got milk in it! I'd rather make my own food."

My mom threw her head back, laughing. I personally couldn't see what was so funny about my personal taste preferences, but to each his own, I guess.

"Of course I had something else for you." My mom smiled as she handed me a plate of pancakes. "Have a nice day, son." She leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. A smile played at my lips. It was like I was trying to remember something, but couldn't.

I shrugged off the feeling, since there was no use worrying about it. "Thanks, Mom, I'll try."

I sat down across the table from Katie, and started eating. She looked up at me. "So, how are you managing that new power of yours?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Well, it's a little out of control, but I suppose that I'm managing it fine, given the circumstances." She nodded her head without saying a word. I felt a little awkward right then, like there was something I was supposed to understand, but was missing somehow.

"Look, Katie," I said, "I really do want to believe that I'm Edward Elric, but I can't without any proof whatsoever."

She nodded, then asked, "Do you want to walk to school together or by yourself today?"

"I need a little time to think," I muttered, "So I guess I'll go by myself."

She nodded her understanding, then got up, put her dish away, and threw her backpack over her shoulder. "Then, have a nice day today, Brother. I'll walk you home, okay?" I nodded. "And I'll also find some proof that Edward Elric really DID exist."

I wasn't sure whether to be angry or happy about that, so I just said, "Sure, you do that."

"Have a nice day then. See you after school." She waited for me to reply.

"Have a nice day." I managed a weak smile, even though I really didn't feel like smiling right then. She apparently decided that that was satisfactory, so she turned and went out the door.

I sat back and thought for a few minutes. Come to think of it, I didn't remember anything clearly before last Christmas. That couldn't be normal. Either I was losing my mind, or Katie had a good point in her case. I hoped it was the latter.

I finished my meal, and then got myself ready to leave. This will probably be quite an interesting day, I thought.

I arrived at school with a few minutes to spare before my first class was to start. As I was putting my things in my locker, one of the guys that frequently strikes up a conversation with my between classes ran up.

"Hey, Edward," he said, "Could you show that disappearing quarter trick to my girlfriend?"

I chuckled. I was starting to gain a reputation regarding my magic tricks at this school. "Sure," I said, slamming my locker shut, "Where is she?"

"Right here," he motioned to a girl standing a few feet away with dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a quarter.

"Do you have a pencil or a pen?" I asked. The guy who had asked the trick of me pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me.

I held the quarter out for both of them to see in my left hand. Then, I closed my hand around the quarter and explained that I was going to make this quarter disappear, as well as whatever other drabble I came up with. The important thing in magic tricks is to keep talking.

I touched the pen to my closed hand, and then brought it up by my ear. "One…" I counted. I touched it to my hand again, and once again brought it up to my ear. "Two…" I quickly slipped the pen behind my ear, and then brought my hand down again as if to count three.

I acted surprised. "What the heck? Where's my pen?" The girl wore a shocked expression on her face. I started chuckling as I turned my head and let them see what had actually happened, and laughed it off as a joke. She was laughing too.

While her attention was on the pen, I slipped the quarter into my pocket, and then brought my hand back to its previous closed position before she could realize what I just did.

I chuckled. "Okay, I promised you a disappearing quarter, and a disappearing quarter you shall have." I though the pen once again to my closed fist and counted "One…" as the raise the pen to my ear. "Two…" I counted again, "Three!"

I opened my closed fist, and voila! The quarter was gone!

"That was amazing!" shrieked the girl, "How did you do that?"

"Very well, don't you think?" I replied. Hey, it's poor etiquette to reveal your secrets.

"So, what happened to the quarter?"

"It vanished into oblivion," I stated, "It's no more. It's an ex-quarter." Hey, being in my pocket, that statement's almost true.

"Show me again, please!" She begged.

I sighed. "Perhaps another time. I've got to get to class."

"Okay," she pouted, "But you're not off the hook just yet. See you later, good luck in class."

"Thanks," I said. I watched her walk away and sighed. These magic tricks were fun, but I could feel something missing. It was like I was doing them to satisfy some inner need, though these cheap tricks weren't actually satisfying it. The telekinesis had come much closer to satisfying that need, but even it didn't fill it. What was I longing for?

Katie here. I had managed to get a tip from one of the teachers of a man living nearby that had lived back during the time Edward had been alive in his previous incarnation. I needed to talk to him, so I slipped out undetected during lunch period and went to the address I had found in the phone book.

I knocked on the door. After waiting a few moments, an elderly man opened the door and said, "Well, hello, little girl. What can I do for you?"

"I came to ask you a question, if I may."

He motioned for me to come inside and have a seat, so I did so. I sensed that there was no need to fear this old man, so I wasn't going to worry about the fact that I didn't know him.

"Now," said the old man, sitting down in a worn armchair, "What can I do for you?"

I sat down on a nearby chair, facing him, and said, "I was wondering, when you were young, did you ever know a boy named Edward Elric?"

The man didn't speak for a moment. Finally, he looked at me, and said, "You know about Edward? I thought everyone had forgotten about him these days."

"His popularity is increasing these days," I explained, "Due to a television program having been made of him. I'm simply trying to find out if he really existed or not."

The man rolled back his eyes like he was looking at the ceiling, and sighed. "Edward Elric really did exist. He was a wonderful person."

He turned his attention back towards me to make sure that I was listening, and continued. "I was nine years old when he showed up. No one knew where he came from, but he was obviously not from around here. He had special abilities that he would use to help people. Many of the townspeople thought that he wasn't a person at all, but an angel sent from heaven to bless this weary town."

"Did you even meet him yourself?" I asked.

"Oh yes, definitely," said the man, "My mother was always ill, and my father had passed away the previous year. None of the medications we had tried previously had every helped her, but he found an effective treatment by using his magic. He used to come to our house once a week to bring medicine, and he always made sure to bring candy for me. I remember him telling me, 'Don't cry, your mother's going to be alright soon. Try to stay cheerful for her sake. She'll get better faster if she sees that you're happy.' He never charged us for his service either. We had honestly planned to pay him back somehow, but my mother didn't get well until after he…" He choked back a sob.

I understood what he meant. It must've been hard to lose someone you were so close to. I looked into the old man's eyes. "What if there was a way to still pay him back?"

"Is there a way?" asked the old man, curiously, "I would have paid him back long ago had I know a way. Even if I had only been able to find his family, I would have paid him back."

"There is a way," I said, avoiding looking directly into his eyes. If Edward knew what I was about to say, he would kill me. I took a deep breath. "That same power that he used to help you and this town just recently brought him back to life, but he can't remember who he is."

I closed my eyes and waited for the scoffing to come…but it didn't. I opened my eyes again, and looked at the man. Tears were coming to his eyes.

"Is this true? Can that amazing power really raise the dead?"

"It rarely can," I explained, "But it worked in his case. I know him personally, but he doesn't remember being Edward Elric. He doesn't even think that Edward Elric existed. I need to prove him wrong on that before I can find a way to get him to remember who he is."

The tears started rolling down the man's cheeks. "I have a few old newspaper clipping that mention him and his doings. I would happily show them to you, especially if it would help Edward."

I looked at my watch. "I've got to get back to school. Would it be okay if I come again after school? I could even bring Edward."

The man practically sprang out of his chair, threw his arms around me, and cried, "Yes, come back, and please, please bring Edward!"

"O-Okay…I will then," I said, carefully prying the man's arms off of me. "I'll be back just as soon as school gets out." The man didn't say anything. He was too choked up to utter a word, so he just nodded and waved goodbye to me as I walked out the door.

This is Edward again. I was sitting in my math class during the last period, trying to pay attention to the lecture that the teacher was giving. Of course, I was bored, and when I get bored I tend to flick my wrist, which is not a good thing now that I have this new power.

I flicked my wrist just so, and sent a pencil flying across the room so that it hit the blackboard. Of course, everyone noticed that. How embarrassing that I couldn't even control my own power. I buried my face in my hands.

"Gee, whiz!" exclaimed the teacher, "Doesn't the Greene family produce any NORMAL offspring?"

I took my head out of my hands and looked at the teacher. What was he talking about?

"I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, Edward," said the teacher. "It was rude of me. I know you can't help it."

What the heck was he talking about? He couldn't have known what had actually happened, could he? Did he know something I didn't know? I would have to talk with him after class.

This is Katie. As soon as my last class was over, I walked over to the classroom where I knew Edward was. I had seen him go into this room earlier when I was going to my last class. That made things convenient, since I wouldn't have to wait for him to show up.

As I neared the classroom, I overheard some talking. I crept closer to find out what they were saying. Yes, I knew it wasn't polite, but what can I say, he my brother.

"So, you're telekinetic now, aren't you, Edward?" My goodness! The teacher knew about it?

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry about that pencil earlier." A pencil, huh? He must've accidentally thrown a pencil and the teacher caught him. It was strange that the teacher would actually understand though.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's hard to control. Just try hard not to cause any damage with that ability of yours."

"Okay, I'll try…What did you mean when you said 'Doesn't the Greene family produce any normal offspring'?"

The teacher chuckled. "Well, your father made me swear not to tell, though I don't think that that applies to you, since you no doubt already know about it. I was one of the people that saw Katie last year with that prosthetic arm and the color in her hair evaporate as she fainted."

"Do you mean that that actually happened?"

"Of course it happened. What do you think I am, an idiot?" I think that you were there too, with some sort of hocus pocus thing you did. Katie looked a little bit too much like you for it to just be a mere coincidence."

"But," said Edward, in a disappointed tone, "But I don't remember it."

"You don't remember it? How could you not?"

"I just don't, okay? My memory's been troubling me lately."

"Hmmm…What don't you talk to you father or your sister? I'm sure that they could help you remember."

"I'm not sure if anyone can…" said Edward as his voice trailed off. I decided that now was a good time to step into the room.

"Hi, Edward," I said cheerily.

Edward smiled. "Hi, Katie, ready to go?" I nodded. Edward turned back to the teacher and said, "Thanks for talking to me, and I'm sorry about earlier."

"I told you before not to worry about it. Now go, and have a nice day." He waved his hand, signally that we were free to leave. Edward tried to wave his hand, but instead just scattered a bunch of papers on the floor.

"I'm sor-" Edward began.

"Don't be," said the teacher, cutting him off, "You just have to learn how to control your power. Now go, I can take care of this myself."

Edward nodded, and then we left the room and headed outside. "I met someone today," I said.

"Who?" said Edward.

"An old man who claims that he actually knew Edward Elric when he was alive."

Edward chuckled. "Even so, that still doesn't prove that he ever existed."

"Perhaps not," I said, "But he says that he has some newspaper clippings about him, and he wanted to show them to me after school."

Edward sighed. "Heh…so I guess that we're going to see him, and I don't have any say in the matter?"

"You would be guessing right," I said. Edward shrugged his shoulders and followed along. He knew that once I had put my mind to something, I wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

We arrived at the old man's house. I knocked on the door and waited a few moments. The door opened and there stood the old man. "Well, I'm glad you came back, dear." He smiled, and then looked up at the person standing behind me.

"E-Edward? You really DID come back!" Tears were running down his face, and he was upon Edward and hugging him before Edward had a chance to react.

"Katie, what did you tell him?" demanded Edward. I gave him a brief rundown of our conversation. He didn't look too please, but he'd apparently decided that there was nothing that could be done about it.

I reminded the old man that Edward didn't have any memories of being Edward Elric, and asked him if he could show us the newspaper clippings he had. The man smiled, let go of Edward, and motioned for us to follow him into the house.

He reached for a book on a shelf and pulled it down. Even though it was really old, I could tell that it was some kind of scrapbook. He opened it so that we could see the old, yellowed newspaper clipping, and handed the book to Edward.

Edward spent a few minutes in complete silence, studying the clippings. Finally, he spoke up. "Well, there's definitely an Edward Elric mentioned here who performed 'miracles' as they referred to them, but how can I know that we're all talking about the same person?"

The old man smiled again and turned to the back of the book. There was a picture of three people, two boys and a woman. "Photographs weren't as cheap back then as they are now," said the old man, "But Edward wanted us to have a picture of each other, and so he paid the fee. He wasn't going to be in the photo himself, but we made him join in. This was taken the day before his demise." A tear rolled down the man's face.

Edward looked closely at the picture. One couldn't deny the fact that the little boy in the picture was the old man we were talking to, or the woman his mother. They looked too much like each other to deny that. What was even more irrefutable, however, was the other boy in the picture. Yes, that was definitely Edward, no doubt about it.

Edward looked up from the picture. I could feel that tears were pricking his eyes, but he was blinking them back. "…Edward…Elric…really existed?"

The old man nodded, tears gushing down his face. "Then," muttered Edward, "Is Katie correct? Am I really Edward Elric? How would I find out?"

I put my hand on his shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, Brother, I'll help you." That felt strange, because I don't even think that I said that. I think Al did.

Edward looked at me and smiled. He was more receptive now. Round one goes to me and Al, but the fight had just begun.

**_Heh, there you go, another LONG chapter. If any of you try that magic trick, let me know how it turns out. I can't usually do magic tricks too well, because I always end up telling the person how I did it after I perform the trick. That kind of spoils the magic. I figured that I might as well use that tendency to my advantage, and write about it. Heh._**

**_Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Now review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Wow, look at all the reviews this story has gotten so far! I just can't believe it! Keep them coming, please! I love them!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I don't know anything else to say here to make you read the disclaimer, so I'll just type up this sentence and hope that that convinces you to read it. Heh.**_

_**Enjoy the story!**_

A couple weeks went by, and nothing much happened. Edward still couldn't control his new power, nor could he remember anything about his past life. Even Mom and Dad started to notice his unusual behavior, but they just brushed it off as "teenage stuff".

When I got to school that day, I noticed that there was quite a buzz in the atmosphere of the school. I pulled aside a friend and asked her what was going on.

"Haven't you heard? Edward Elric really existed!" That was the last thing I'd expected to hear, so it took me awhile to react.

"Where did you find that out?" I asked.

"Everyone is school's talking about it. Apparently, some old man was able to provide proof that Ed actually existed. So now, since he'd had such a big impact on this town, there's going to be an 'Edward Elric Day' next week. We're even going to be allowed to come to school dressed as any FullMetal Alchemist character we want to on that day. Isn't that awesome?"

I felt like I was going to faint. How would Ed react to this? I knew that he wouldn't be happy about it, but what could be done about it? I decided to wait until I had gotten a chance to talk to Ed before jumping to any conclusions or doing anything rash.

As soon as school was out, I went straight to the place where Edward and I always waited for each other. I soon saw Ed walk up to me, staring at the ground. He wasn't happy.

"So, uh, I guess that you heard about the…" I began.

"Yes, I heard," he interrupted by putting up his hand, "I don't want to talk about it."

I understood that, so I didn't say anything more. We just walked home in silence.

The following week was pretty rough. Edward was dreading the coming event more with each passing day. I couldn't really say that I blamed him though. The idea of seeing a bunch of Als walking around kind of creeped me out too.

Finally, the big day arrived. We couldn't believe how many banners and signs were placed around town announcing "Edward Elric Day". We knew it was probably going to be worse at school. Neither one of us dressed up for the event. Why should we? We were the two main characters, even if Edward didn't remember.

We arrived at school, and sure enough, most of the people there were dressed up as some FullMetal Alchemist character, the most common one being Ed, of course. I sighed. There was nothing to do but get through the day.

"Have a nice day, Brother," I said, "If you can." I turned and walked away.

* * *

This is Edward speaking now. After Katie left, I went and started putting my things away in my locker.

"Hey, there sure are a lot of Edwards here today, aren't there?"

I jumped. I hadn't heard that guy sneak up behind me. "Yeah," I replied, "Too many." I turned my head to see who was speaking to me. I didn't recognize the guy, but he'd sure managed to be a good Edward Elric look-alike.

"You're right," said the guy, "There are a few too many Eds here today. It's kind of creepy."

"Tell me about it," I said as I slammed my locker shut. "At least you dressed up well; I'll give you that much credit."

The guy looked at his clothes, scratched his head, and said, "Thanks, I guess."

I chuckled. This guy may be an Edward Elric wannabe, but it didn't look like he'd sold all his brain cells to the one-eyed monster that some call the television set.

"So," I said, "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new here?"

"Yes, I'm new here. I actually share a lot of classes with you, so you'll probably be seeing a lot of me," said the guy.

I looked at my watch. "I've got to get to class. Do you share your first class with me?"

"Yes, I do," said the guy.

"Fine, then I'll walk you to class."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

The two of us hung out with each other for the duration of the school day since, strangely, we shared the same classes. I was starting to really like this guy though. He seemed really smart.

"Hey, Edward, wait up!" I turned and saw several of the fan girls that always mob me running up to me. I had to get out of here before they caught me. I turned to run the other way, but several girls were coming from that direction as well. Had they actually PLANNED this attack?

I groaned. Nothing was more annoying than being mobbed by a bunch of fan girls. There was nothing I could do but let them come.

"Hey, Edward," said one of the girls, "Why didn't you dress up? After all, you not only look like Edward Elric, but your name is Edward too."

"Why should I dress up?" I said, irritated, "Why can't I just dress as me?"

"Because you look so much like Edward Elric, we were hoping that you'd dress up as him," said one of the girls, moving closer.

She backed me into a locker. Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. What was she going to do?

"Has my favorite Edward Elric look-alike ever been kissed?"

I glanced around nervously. I'd never kissed a girl before, and I didn't want to give my first kiss to this one. Was there any way to escape?

Suddenly, I saw blue waves of energy course through the hallway, and knock all the girls to the floor. I looked to find the source, and spotted Katie with her hands on the ground.

The girls looked around, dazed. When they got their bearings, they slowly began to stand up again. The girl who had been so forward with me shakily walked up to Katie.

"W-Was that…alchemy?"

"And what if it was?" said Katie, putting her hands on her hips, "You have no right to do that to my brother."

"He's your brother?" she said, turning around to look at me. "Oh my Gosh! He's probably Edward Elric reincarnated!"

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Not this again, please! Why did you have to sue alchemy in front of these girls, Katie?

The Edward look-alike placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. I had actually forgotten that he was there.

"Don't worry about them," he said, "Just be true to yourself."

I smiled. "Would you like to come over to my house and meet the family?"

"I'd like that," he said, "I knew your family a while ago, but I haven't seen them for some time."

"Wonderful," I said, "Let's go now while these girls are still trying to figure themselves out."

Mr. Look-alike chuckled. "There's never been a better time to leave." So, the three of us left before the girls even had a chance to see that we had gone.

* * *

This is Katie again. We were on our way home after that crazy ordeal, Edward yakking away with this new friend of his. I was glad that he'd finally met someone he liked. He didn't make friends that easily.

We arrived at the house. I opened the door and ushered the two boys in with a wave of my hand, and then I followed.

Mom came into the room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "So, I take it that you guys managed to survive today?" She chuckled and winked at me. Then she noticed the stranger.

"Hello," she said, extending her hand to the boy, "Welcome to our humble home. Are you a new friend of Edward's?"

The boy looked at Edward, then back at Mom, and chuckled. "I guess that you could say that."

"I'm so glad to hear it." My mom smiled at our guest. "Would you care to stay for dinner?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I don't know, I haven't been very hungry lately."

My mom laughed. "You don't have to eat if you don't want to. We'd just like to get to know you a little better."

The boy smiled. "Then I accept. Thank you."

"No, thank YOU," my mom corrected. She gave one last smile to the boy, and then left the room to continue with her meal preparations.

The boy chuckled. "She didn't even react to the way I was dressed?"

Edward shrugged. "No, she expects that today. Everyone in town is dressing like that."

The boy sighed. "I suppose you're right. It's kind of creepy in a way to see all these other Edwards."

"Not to mention all the Als," I butted in. Edward and the other boy laughed. Funny, I didn't think they'd get the joke.

"So, would you like to go up to my room?" asked Edward, "I've got some cool games on my computer."

"Sure," the other boy shrugged.

The two of them started to walk off. I just stood there, figuring that Edward would want his sister hanging around. Edward then turned around and said, "Well, Katie, are you coming?"

"Oh…yes!" I said, surprised. I quickly fell into step behind the two boys, and we headed upstairs.

After some time had passed, Mom came up to the room to tell us that dinner was ready. We jumped up and ran down the stairs.

There were five places set at the table. An extra chair had been pulled up for our guest. Dad was already seated in his place, and the three of us took our places.

"Are you still not hungry, or would you like to eat something?" my mom asked our guest.

"I'm still not hungry, I'm sorry," he said sheepishly.

"That's okay," my mom said, "Just let us know if you do get hungry." The boy smiled, and said nothing.

Soon, my mom had sat down at the table, and we were all enjoying our meal and talking with our guest. He could carry on a really interesting conversation, but there was something about him that I just couldn't put my finger on. Something was just not right.

"Could you please pass the gravy?" Edward asked our guest. The boy nodded, and handed him the gravy boat. Edward reached out for it, but accidentally flicked his wrist in the process. He sent a plate flying so it shattered when it hit the wall.

All of us stopped eating and just stared, dumbfounded. To get to the wall, the plate has passed right through our guest.

_**Ooh, creepy. Heh…Actually, nothing creeps me out, especially when I write it, hehe. Nothing but spiders that is. (Shiver) Does anybody know what's happening yet?**_

_**The library will be closed tomorrow, so I won't be able to upload anything then. (Cries) I'm going to try and upload the first chapter of a new fic I just started today though. It's a short chapter, but at least it'll give you something extra to read, since I won't be uploading tomorrow. Heh. I got the idea sometime after I'd read the first volume of Fruits Basket. The story's nothing like that story, but it spawned the idea, nonetheless. I'm going to call it "The Zodiac People".**_

_**Heh, ever wondered what inspired this story? (Or rather, "My Body, Your Soul") I don't know how that story came out from these two inspiration stories, but it did, somehow. The two stories are:**_

_**If I Were You by SakuraSagura**_

**_FullMetal Amnesia by Isisoftheunderground_**

**_They are both awesome stories, so you should check them out. (Hey, I had to mention them sooner or later, right?) These stories have almost nothing in common with mine, so I don't know how my story came from them, but it did somehow. Heh._**

_**Hope you enjoyed the story. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Here's the next chapter, everyone. It's a little shorter than most, but it's pretty good, nonetheless. I really enjoyed writing it, hehehe.**_

_**Disclaimer: Guess what? After all this time, I still don't own FullMetal Alchemist, so you can just stop asking. Heh.**_

"I keep telling you, I'm not a ghost," the boy said as he placed his hands on his head. He was obviously aggravated. "You wouldn't be able to see me if I was a ghost."

My mother leaned towards him and said, "Then what are you if you're not a ghost?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I'm an astral projection."

"A WHAT?" my mom exclaimed.

"Hey, it's okay, calm down," the boy said, putting up his hands. "As astral projection is simply, well, kind of like sending your soul out of your body to another place. So, in other words, I'm still alive."

"Where's you body then?" I asked.

"I don't think you'd believe me," said the boy.

"I've seen some pretty weird things in my time."

The boy hesitated for another moment, and then said, "My body belongs to my look-alike at this table." He got up and made as if to leave.

I stood up. "Hey, you can't just run off because you're afraid of what we'll say. Sit back down and let us figure this out."

He sat back down. "I've always been afraid of alienating you Al, uh I mean, Katie."

I gasped. He knew about the relationship between me and Al? Then that meant that he was…no, it couldn't be.

"Are you…Edward Elric?" I asked.

He smiled and looked up at me. "So, you finally figured it out?"

"B-But…how?" I stammered, "Edward Elric was reincarnated into Edward Greene."

"I showed up the same way that Al suddenly showed up for you," said astral Edward. "There was a need, so I woke up."

"How do you know about Al showing up?" I said.

Astral Ed shrugged. "I guess it has something to do with my present incarnation's psychic ability."

"Al showed up? What are you talking about?" asked my dad.

I turned to him. "A few weeks ago, Al suddenly showed up and started talking to me after I noticed that Edward was losing his memories of being Edward Elric, though he never astral projected like this."

"Why didn't either of you tell us anything? All we want to do is help you, don't you trust us?" Mom started sobbing.

Dad put a hand on her shoulder to console her. "Honey, this has nothing to do with the relationship between us and them. Their past lives were quite difficult, and they're still trying to tie up loose ends. It'll probably take them awhile to learn to trust again after all they went through." My mom nodded, but she was obviously still upset.

"I'm sorry about all this," said astral Ed.

"Don't be," said Mom, wiping tears from her eyes, "It's not your fault."

I turned back to astral Ed and asked, "So, how exactly did this happen? Al isn't astral projecting from me."

He looked up and me, and smiled. "The reason I showed up in the first place is because Edward was getting so desperate to connect to his past life that the called me up. I'm astral projecting because not only are his psychic abilities stronger than yours, but he's such a skeptic that he needed to see to believe, so he gave me an astral body."

"I am not that big of a skeptic," said Edward, turning to face astral Ed.

Astral Ed shrugged. "The truth hurts. I know you better than anyone. If you can't take it from yourself, who can you take it from?"

Edward fumed. Not only was he being insulted, by himself no less, but he couldn't seem to control this astral projection. It really was like they were two separate people. Edward flicked his wrist and sent a spoon flying through astral Ed so that it hit the wall.

"Nice try," said astral Ed, "But I'm non-material, remember? You can't hurt me."

Edward was really mad now. It was quite silly, him getting mad like that, but you know Edward. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "Do you want a fight?"

"Bring it on!" said astral Ed. Oh great, now we were going to have two Edwards fighting? This was getting out of hand!

Edward rushed astral Ed, and was going to plow right into him. He's forgotten about his being non-material apparently, because he plowed right through him, stumbled, and fell.

"Ha! Is that the best you've got?" taunted astral Ed.

"Boys, please, not at the table!" shouted Mom, who then quickly added, "I can't believe I just said that."

The boys were at it again in no time, wrestling each other. Astral Ed definitely had the advantage, and was able to thwart all of Edward's attacks. Edward jumped up and came at him again, only to have astral Ed trip him and make him fall on his face.

Astral Ed quickly ran up to Edward, and placed his hand inside (yes, inside) Edward's hands. Before Edward had time to react, astral Ed had clapped Edward's hands together, and had placed them on the floor. The carpet pulled up and bound Edward in it.

"Ha!" said astral Ed, stepping back, "I win!"

"Not quite," replied Edward, "I just got you figured out." Edward closed his eyes for a moment. Astral Ed gasped, then reached for something to grab onto. It was futile, however, for astral Ed suddenly disappeared.

Edward was chuckling to himself as he freed himself from the carpet. I was horrified. Did he just kill the other Edward?

"Edward," I said, "Did you just kill him?"

"No," he said, putting a hand up, "Don't worry. I merely reabsorbed him. He's inside me right now telling me how unfair that move was." Edward chuckled again.

"Well," my mom said nervously, "Could you let him out, so he can fix the carpet?"

Edward chuckled, and then closed his eyes again. Astral Ed reappeared before our eyes. He put his hand on his chest, and said, "That sure feels weird."

"Glad to see you're alright," I said. "Could you maybe repair the damage you boys did?" I gestured to the floor.

"I can if Edward will let me use his body. The only reason I was able to do it the one time is because I caught him off guard."

Edward shrugged. "Sure, go ahead and use my body. I know your weakness if you try anything sneaky." He smirked.

Astral Ed stepped inside Edward's body, clapped his hands together, and placed them on the floor. The torn pieces of carpet went back into their proper place.

Edward then stood back up, and astral Ed stepped out. They smiled at each other. "That was a great fight, wasn't it?" said astral Ed.

"You're a worthy opponent," said Edward, "I enjoyed it." The two of them shook hands.

"Hey, let's go up to my room," said Edward, "That is, if I may be excused." He turned to face Mom.

She chuckled. "Of course you may be excused. You go and have some fun with…yourself." She shook her head at how crazy that sounded.

"Thanks," said Edward, who turned to astral Ed and said, "Race you up the stairs."

"You're on!" said astral Ed. Before we knew it, they were gone. I shook my head. Boys were so crazy.

_**Congratulations to those who actually guessed right (or close to right) on who the visitor was. You guys are starting to figure me out. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. Heh. Just so you know, since several people have asked, the old man is just an old man. You don't need to read that deep into my stories. Hehehe…I'd never intended for him to be anything but an old man that had known Edward when he was alive. If you want me to make him something more though, I'd be happy to try.**_

_**Anyway, thanks for reading, and now review! Yeah!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello, everyone! Sorry that it took me so long to update today. I ran into a really interesting person at the library today, and we just into a conversation that lasted for a few hours. Apparently the man was a history teacher and an English teacher, and he was telling me all sorts of interesting facts about history (particularly the Civil War) and literature. Wow, if you ever get the opportunity to talk with someone like that, please don't pass it up. Those people are rare, and you might never get the chance to talk with them again.**_

_**Anyway, here's the latest installment of the story. Hope that you like it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I'd come up with something witty to say, but I'm still choked up from the history lesson I just got.**_

This is Edward. I was dreading the next school day after the little skirmish we'd had. If those fan girls had really figured out who I was, they would never quit bothering me, not to mention all the unwanted attention I'd get from everyone in town. Heck, Edward Elric is an international celebrity. News like this could spread over the entire world. I had to find a way to stop the process right here in school. I didn't want this life to resemble Edward Elric's.

Before I even stepped into the school building, I heard a girl shout, "It's him!" I tried to escape, but they'd apparently planned this attack too. I was surrounded by girls in no time. Other boys might like that, but not me.

"Are you really Edward Elric?" one of the girls asked.

"No, I'm Edward Greene. Why can't you girls get that through your heads?"

"Can you do alchemy?" another girl asked.

"No, I've never even tried to do alchemy. All I can do are magic tricks. I'm not Edward Elric."

"Then why do you look so much like him?" asked a girl.

"I just do, okay? I didn't choose how I was going to look."

(Let me out,) said astral Ed, (I think I can trick them into leaving you alone.)

(Ok, go ahead and give it a try.) I closed my eyes and let him out. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that he had appeared beside me, and all the girls wore shocked expressions on their faces.

"I think you girls are a little mixed up," said astral Ed, "I'm Edward Elric, he's just a look-alike." He motioned towards me. "Did you honestly think that I'd still be alive after all these years?"

The girls were dumbfounded, starting at the spectacle before them. One brave girl ventured to ask, "Then, how come you still look like you've fifteen?"

"I died at the age of fifteen," astral Ed sighed. "A person like me tends to make a lot of enemies."

The same girl then picked up a rock and threw it at him, which it passed right through him, of course. "Sorry about that," she said, "I just had to make sure that you weren't one of Edward's magic tricks."

"I understand that," he said, and then placed his hand on her shoulder to further prove that he was real, "One can never be too careful."

The girl gasped. "He's real!" she shouted, turning to her friends. The girls, of course, started getting really excited and clambering for him. Astral Ed gave me a look which I knew meant "Get me out of here". So, I closed my eyes and reabsorbed him.

I opened my eyes and again saw a bunch of dumbstruck girls. "Where did he go?" one of them asked.

"Oh, he's probably around," I said, "He probably just doesn't like getting mobbed by fan girls any more than I do."

"Do you think he'll come back?" asked the girl who had talked most.

"Maybe," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "If you quit acting like crazy lunatics and start acting like intelligent beings." They didn't appear to like that, but hey, it needed to be said.

(Thanks for saving me back there,) I thought to astral Ed.

(Don't mention it. Creating a dissuasion like that helps me as much as it does you, so it's really nothing.)

(I'm still glad you did it though,) I replied, (Do you think it worked? Some of these girls saw Katie use alchemy, you know.)

(Maybe we can pass if off as a magic trick,) he suggested, (They're liable to believe that, considering your reputation.)

(Perhaps,) I said as I scratched my head, (I suppose that we'll just have to give it a try.)

Things went by almost normally that day until lunch period, when several of the fan girls approached me again.

"Edward," asked the girl who had done the most talking in the previous attack, "Are you able to call Edward Elric? He seems to respond to you."

"Why do you want to talk to him?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" asked the girl, raising her hands at her side.

"Actually, yes it does matter," I explained, "He does frequently appear to me, being his look-alike and namesake, but he doesn't want me calling him just to get mobbed by a bunch of fan girls. There would have to be a decent reason for me to call him."

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was quite obviously annoyed.

"Who's Edward Elric?" came a shy voice from behind me. I turned around to see who had just spoken. A sweet little girl about my age with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes stared back at me. I'd never seen her before.

"Are you new here?" I asked. She blushed and nodded her head without saying a word. Surprisingly, I thought she was pretty cute. I hadn't even known that I had an interest in girls before now.

I chuckled at her. "I guess that you might not have been here long enough to learn who he is then. Everyone in town knows about him. Basically, he was a boy about my age who, ironically, looked just like me back in the early twentieth century. He was capable of performing alchemy, and he used it to help those in need. For that, this town is grateful to him."

I knew that one might think that I was patting myself on the back had they known about my being the reincarnation of Edward Elric, but I honestly felt like I was talking about a different person, the other person living inside me.

"It sounds like he was a nice person," she said shyly.

"He was," said one of the other girls, "And just this morning, we saw his ghost. We're trying to get Ed here to call him back, since Edward Elric seems to respond to Edward Greene."

I smacked my forehead. "You finally used my last name! I can't believe it! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" I shook her hand vigorously. Yes, I was being crazy, but I sometimes get that way when I'm annoyed.

The shy girl chuckled. I turned to her. "So, what's you name?"

She blushed again and answered, "Annabelle…Annabelle Jenkins."

"Annabelle…pretty name," I mused. I glanced at my watch. "Would you like to sit with me in the cafeteria?" She blushed again and smiled. I guessed that meant yes.

"Hey, that's not fair! Ed's never asked us to sit with him before!" shouted the other girls. I waved them off. They weren't worth paying attention to anyway. I'd finally found a girl that was actually attractive to me, and I wanted to get to know her.

The cafeteria food wasn't all that great. I don't even remember what we ate…If we even ate. I can't remember that either. I do remember staring into Annabelle's eyes, then watching her avert her eyes, chuckle, and blush. She really was cute.

I had a hard time concentrating the rest of that day. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Why was I so drawn to her?

(She seemed kind of familiar to me too,) said astral Ed. I jolted awake. I hadn't expected him to talk right then.

(What do you mean 'too'? Who said anything about her seeming familiar to me?) I replied.

(Come on, Ed; don't try to hide from me. I can tell that you and Annabelle instantly connected as soon as you looked into each other's eyes. That sort of thing usually only happens with soul mates. I'm just trying to figure out who she was,) said astral Ed.

(Well, you do whatever you want,) I said, (But if she turns out be someone less than pleasant in her past life, don't tell me. I don't want you spoiling this.)

Astral Ed chuckled. (Don't worry; I won't spoil it for you. I don't want my presence in your body to affect you negatively in any way.)

(Good,) I replied, and then went right back to thinking about Annabelle. I think that astral Ed tried to say something after that, but I didn't hear it. I didn't really care what he had to say at this point.

I slammed my book shut as soon as the last bell rang. Now to go home and face a mountain of homework. Sounded like a lot of fun. I sighed and got up to leave.

I went to the spot where Katie and I always waited for each other. She soon showed up, so we started the walk back home.

Just before we left the school grounds, I turned my head and looked around, just in case I might catch another glimpse of Annabelle. No such luck.

"Brother," said Katie, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing," I snapped my head forward again, "Absolutely nothing."

_**Wow, I can't believe I actually included a little romance in this story! (Those that know me well know that I have next to no interest in romance, so this part of the story just kind of "happened". I don't really know where it's going to go, but I'm starting to learn to trust my instincts in writing, because they rarely lead me wrong. Heh.)**_

_**Hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please review. Guessing on what's going on is fine too, as long as you don't expect me to give you the answers, hehe. (Hey, if you want spoilers that bad, you have to send me a private message asking me specifically which spoiler you want known. Otherwise, I won't utter a word, hehe.)**_

_**That's it for today. I might upload some chapters for some of my other stories later, if I can get them written. Until then, please review this one. Thanks, see you soon.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey, sorry that I uploaded this chapter so late. My mind was kind of blank today, so it took awhile to even write this short chapter. Just remember, since my mind was (and still is, heh) blank, I have no idea whether this is a good chapter or not. I can't think when my mind goes blank. You're welcome to let me know whether this chapter's good or not though, since I have no idea. Heh. Just be nice. Then go over to my "Across Time and Space" story. I wrote another chapter for that today, when my mind wasn't blank, so that one will probably be a bit better. Heh.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy the story.**_

_**Disclaimer: (Blank stare…oh yeah, I don't own FullMetal Alchemist…Blank stare…)**_

I woke up the next morning with a headache. "Aw!" I placed my hand on my forehead, "No wonder I had such an attitude yesterday."

I tried to stand up, but just collapsed back into bed. I was sick, no doubt about it. I couldn't get sick now; I didn't have time for it! I'd get behind in my studies!

(If you're that worried about school, why don't you just have me go? You can see through my eye if you want to, so it would be like you were actually there. You need to stay home and rest though,) said astral Ed.

(But they'd notice you, and they'd figure out that it wasn't me! You're non-material, remember?) I reminded.

(I'll just have to make sure to keep out of the fan girls' way, so that they don't discover my true identity,) said astral Ed, (I can still pick things up and move things around, and people can see me, so they shouldn't be able to tell me from you if they don't touch me.)

(But I've never had you more than a few feet from my body; I'm not sure if I can do it.)

(I'm sure you can,) said astral Ed, (Psychic abilities aren't limited by space.)

I sighed. (Okay, I'll let you try, but be really careful not to ruin my reputation.) I concentrated hard and released him from my body. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me. He placed a hand on my forehead.

"Your forehead feels kind of warm, so I'll get you some water or juice before I go. Make sure that you rest today," said astral Ed.

I sighed. "I don't think that I really have much choice." Then, looking directly at him, I said, "You're not going to wear those clothes to school, are you?"

Astral Ed looked down at his FullMetal Alchemist garb, then back at me. "I don't actually have any saw in what I wear. You're the one who makes that decision, not me."

I'd honestly never thought of that, but it made sense. I'd always expected him to wear what he was wearing now, so that was why he was wearing it. Now that I finally realized that, I could change it. I imagined him wearing the clothes that I typically wore to school each day, and suddenly, the clothes he was wearing changed right before my eyes. I would have though that more interesting had I not had such a headache.

"That should make me not stand out," he said, "I'll go get you something to drink now. You take care of that body, it houses both of us." I managed a weak chuckle as he left the room. He was back in a moment with some water and some juice.

"I didn't get you any aspirin because medicine dampens one's psychic abilities. If you want me to go to school in your place today, then you need your psychic abilities intact."

"I understand," I moaned. I took the glass of water, had a sip, and then waved my hand at astral Ed. "See ya." He smiled and then walked out of the room.

* * *

This is Katie. I was eating my breakfast when I saw Edward walk into the room. Wait, that wasn't Edward, that was astral Ed! (Hey, I can tell them apart, being his sister.)

"Where's Edward? He's never this far away from you!" I asked, concerned.

Astral Ed looked at me, put his hands on his hips, and said, "You're pretty good at telling us apart, Katie. Edward's not feeling well, so I'm going to school in his place."

I nearly choked on my food. "Are you NUTS? Those fan girls are always after Edward, and they'll be sure to discover who you are!"

Astral Ed shrugged. "I know, but they can't tell that I'm not him unless they try to touch me, and I don't plan on letting them get that close."

I shook my head. "It's still a crazy idea. I say that you should both just stay home."

He shrugged again. "I wouldn't have any problem with that, but Edward doesn't want to get behind in his studies, so I offered to go in his place. He would've pushed himself too hard otherwise."

I sighed. "You're right about that. You're both quite stubborn." I finished my breakfast and grabbed my books. "Come on, Ed; let's get this day over with."

* * *

This is astral Ed. Yes, it's strange that I get a chance to tell the story, but it's easier to tell directly through me than going through me to Edward.

I arrived at school, and sure enough, there were the fan girls, waiting for me. Katie turned to me and said, "Good luck, Ed," and then walked off. Great, why did the day have to start like this?

The girls, as expected, surrounded me before I could get away. Naturally, being an astral projection, it would have been easy to get out of there, but not without them seeing my unconventional exit. What was I supposed to do to get out of this situation?

"Why don't you girls ever leave me alone?" I demanded. They didn't answer the question, as expected. They never did. I sighed. How was I supposed to get out of this situation without letting any of the girls touch me and find out my true identity?

I glanced up over the mob of girls. The new girl, Annabelle, was crossing the street towards the school building. I smiled. Yes, I admit that I liked her too. Edward Greene and I do have the same feelings, being the same person. Only our minds differ.

As I watched, a drunk driver came roaring around the corner, and was heading straight for Annabelle. It was indeed a strange time of day for someone to be drunk, but I couldn't see any other reason for him to be driving like that. Annabelle froze in the middle of the street.

"Run!" I yelled. "Annabelle, run!" She didn't hear me, and she didn't move. That car was getting closer. I had to do something, but what could I do?

(Use alchemy,) said Edward, (This is a life-and-death situation. We'll deal with the aftereffects later.)

(But I need a body to perform alchemy!) I said.

(There are plenty of bodies there,) said Edward, (Just possess the person nearest you. Hurry, Annabelle doesn't have much time!)

I turned to see who was nearest me. It was the outspoken girl who always caused me and Edward the most trouble. She was looking at the accident about the happen. Good, I'd catch her off guard.

I jumped into her body. She was about to scream, but I managed to cut her off mid-scream and take control of her body. Thank goodness my soul was stronger than hers.

I ran up to the edge of the street. I only had a couple second left to act. Time almost stood still as I clapped the girl's hands together, and slapped them onto the pavement.

The road buckled and twisted, causing Annabelle to lose her footing and fall, and the car to crash into a signpost on the side of the road.

I stood up and surveyed the damage. Annabelle was standing back up, so she was just fine. The care only took a little damage, so the man inside wasn't hurt. He had passed out behind the wheel though, so he'd need some help. I'd make sure to alert someone to the need.

I then stepped out of the girl's body. She gasped, and then turned to look at me. She didn't say anything for a few moments as she studied me.

"Y-You're not Edward Green," she stuttered, "You're Edward Elric."

"I never said that I was Edward Greene," I said, "You assumed that on your own." I figured that if I went alone with her, perhaps I could keep Edward out of trouble later on, if I didn't screw up the rest of the day.

"Then, why are you wearing his clothes?" she asked. Okay, I needed to come up with a good answer for that, but what? Maybe telling her a little bit of the truth wouldn't hurt, as long as I didn't tell too much.

"Edward and I are psychically connected," I said, "He wasn't feeling well today, so I offered to come to school in his place. He can see through my eyes, so it's almost like he's here himself."

"Edward is psychic?" asked the girl excitedly. Oh, brother!

"Everyone is, to a degree," I said, picking up my books. "Now please, girls, if you want to help us out, don't tell anyone about me."

The girls all promised to keep the secret. I hoped they meant it. I turned to see Annabelle walked up to us.

"Annabelle," I said, "Are you okay?"

She blushed again and nodded. "Thank you," she said, "I know what you did. Tell the other Edward thank you for me, for sending you here today." I gasped. How had she figured that much out? She smiled, blushed, and ran off just as the first bell rang. I guessed that I would just have to wait before I got answers.

_**Thanks for reading, and hope that you enjoyed it. Now review, or I'll…hmmm…I'll have to come up with a good threat. You should just review, so that I don't carry out that threat on you once I come up with it. Heh.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey! Here's yet another chapter. Sorry that they haven't been as exciting lately (at least, in my opinion). It's funny, I never get writer's block, but I get slow periods. This just happens to be one of my slower periods, when exciting stories take a little more effort, hehe. Hopefully I'll pull out of it soon, heh. At least I don't have to stop writing altogether, like most people do, right? (I'm kind of lucky in that way, I guess.)**_

_**Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and feel free to review and give me your thoughts. (And suggestions! Please, please give me suggestions! That's the quickest way to get me out of a slow period!)**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I own a cat. That's about it. But she doesn't think I own her, she thinks she owns me. Sigh. I can never win.**_

As soon as lunch period hit, I went to seek out Annabelle. I needed some answer. I found her sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria, so I went and sat down across from her.

"I knew you would come, after what I'd said back there," she said, casting her eyes down at her tray, "I'm sorry."

I put my hand on hers. "You don't have anything to feel bad about; I just want to know how you seem to know what's going on."

She looked up from her tray and stared into my eyes. "You're…Edward Elric…right?" I nodded. She sighed. I waited for her to collect her thoughts before she explained anything to me.

"I've studied paranormal phenomena for some time," she said, "So I knew that you were an astral projection. I also have a lot more memories of my past life than most people do, and you're in a lot of those memories. I came up to you…er…the other Edward yesterday because I recognized him from my memories, and I was hoping that I could find a connection somehow, and I did. I learned that the boy in my memories was named Edward Elric."

"So, what are some of these memories?" I asked.

Tears came to her eyes. "Please don't make me talk about it. My parents keep moving me from school to school and from town to town because I'm always running into people, places, and things that bring up these painful memories. If they find out about you, they'll move me again, for sure. I'm just tired of moving, and want to settle down!" She started crying. "I'm sorry," she said as she wiped away her tears.

"Don't be," I said. "It sounds to me like these memories are going to haunt you until you face them and get them straightened out. Have you ever tried past-life regression therapy?"

She shook her head. "No, my parents don't believe in reincarnation, so they don't think that it would help."

I sighed. Past-life regression therapy could be useful whether you believed in reincarnation or not. Why couldn't people see that?

"I see. So, I gather that you figured us out based on these memories of yours and the paranormal studies you've done?" She nodded in response, through her tears. "Why did you study paranormal activity, if I may ask?"

"I was hoping that it would help me find some answers. These memories have always troubled me, ever since I was young."

"I'm sorry," I said, squeezing her hand in my own, "I'm really sorry that you've had to suffer like this. I understand where you're coming from, since my and my brother, who is my sister in this life, have had similar difficulties sorting out our past lives. We're still dealing with it, as a matter of fact."

She dried her eyes and looked at me. "Do you remember everything about your past life?"

"I do," I answered, "But the other Edward doesn't. He knows everything on the FullMetal Alchemist television program, but he doesn't actually remember it like I do."

She let out a tiny chuckle. "I've never even watched the program. I wonder if I'm in it." Then, looking at me, she said, "Could you answer me this one question? I remember seeing somebody stab and kill you. I can't reconcile that with what the other Ed told me yesterday, about you helping out the people of this town."

I cast my eyes down at our clasped hands and sighed. "Both stories are correct. I did die that day, but my little brother resurrected me, which caused him to disappear. Since I wasn't about to let him stay gone, I went and offered my life in exchange for his. That move brought me through the Gate, into this world. I've been here ever since."

She looked down at our clasped hands for a moment before saying, "That actually makes sense. Thank you." She looked up at me again, and said, "Please don't let my parents know about this conversation we had, or they'll move me again. You just might be the missing link I need to straighten these troubling memories out."

I placed my other hand on her hand, so that both of my hands were grasping hers, and said, "I'm only too happy to help. Talk to me or Edward anytime. You're helping us just as much as we're helping you."

She smiled, and said, "Thank you," as a tear rolled down her face.

Just then, someone came running into the cafeteria and shouted, "Edward, come quick!" I gave Annabelle an apologetic look, then jumped up and followed the messenger.

He led me to the hallway, where I saw Edward, the principal, and a very unhappy mother.

"What the heck is going on?" I asked.

"I was just about to ask you that," said Mother, "Why did you just take off like that without saying a word to me?"

I shifted my weight to my other foot. Okay, I didn't actually have any weight, but the effect was the same. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think about it."

My mom was about to reply when the principal interrupted. "Let's all step into my office, and we'll talk about this."

We entered the principal's office, and Edward plopped down into a chair and placed his hand on his forehead.

The principal noticed this. "Can I get you some aspirin, Edward?" Edward shook his head.

"You won't be able to find out what's going on if you give him any kind of medicine," I said.

"Then would you care to tell me what's going on?" asked the principal. I sighed and looked at Edward. He looked back at me with a look of "There's no way out of this, so we might as well just go along with it."

I looked back at the principal, then picked up one of the stress balls on his desk and said, "Hit me with this."

He gave me a really funny look, and then turned to look at my mother. She nodded. So, he took the stress ball and threw it at me, which, of course, passed right through me.

The principal gasped and looked to my mother for an explanation. "My son," she began, "Is the reincarnation of Edward Elric. And this boy," she motioned to me, "Is an astral projection with the mind of Edward Elric himself."

The principal was silent for a few moments, not quite sure of what to say. Finally, he said, "Can you prove that you're actually Edward Elric?"

"Well," I said, "I can perform alchemy, but I need a body to do so. Edward here is too weak, so I don't want to do it through him. He's having a hard enough time keeping up my astral body."

The principal thought for a moment, and then said, "I'm not going to make you try and prove that you're Edward Elric. I don't know what that would accomplish anyway. What I am bothered about, however, is the fact that you, Edward, had this boy come in your place, Edward Elric or not."

Edward looked up at the principal, and said, "I was too ill to come to school today, so I sent him in my place, since we are actually both the same person, I can see through his eyes. I just didn't want to get behind in my studies."

The principal nodded his understanding. "I do admire a boy that has the courage to stick with his studies, no matter what. I'll let you off if you can prove to me that both of you are indeed the same person. I realize that the reincarnation of Edward Elric would probably have some unusual abilities, supposing that that story's true, but I simply need proof that both of you are indeed one and the same."

Edward smiled. "That should be easy enough to prove." He closed his eyes, and I felt myself being reabsorbed into his body. The feeling of being reabsorbed and released was indeed a strange one, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to it.

"I suppose that that's proof enough," said the principal, "You go home and rest, Edward. You can let you astral projection attend in your place if you desire."

"Thank you," he said. He then closed his eyes again, and released me.

* * *

This is Katie. I was walking down the hallway to get to my next class, when I noticed several of the crazy fan girls clustered around a vent on the wall near the floor. It was well known that one could listen in on conversations in other rooms in this school if one could just figure out which vent connected to which room.

I wondered what they were listening to, but I wasn't about to stop and find out, so I continued walked past. After I had passed by the group of girls, I heard one of them say, "I was right, he IS his reincarnation!"

Something told me that that wasn't a good sign.

_**Thanks for reading, now review!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Wow! That last chapter was more popular than I thought it was going to be. It's funny, but chapters like that last one are pretty much my equivalent of writer's block, yet you still liked it! Heh! I think that I'm pulling out of my slow period now, hopefully, heh. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I don't own much, and most of what I own will end up going to my landlord anyway in exchange for letting me stay another month. Heh. Yeah, whatever.**_

"What are you girls doing?" I exclaimed, fearing that they had discovered Edward's secret.

One of the girls turned around and said, "Hey, look, it's his sister!" The girls jumped up from their sitting positions and surrounded me before I had a chance to react. Now I know how Edward felt, having to deal with this nearly every day.

"Since you brother is the reincarnation of Edward Elric," said one of the girls, "Does that make you Al? Didn't I see you use alchemy that one time?"

I didn't say anything at first, but just started crying. "Leave me alone, and leave Ed alone. We haven't done anything to deserve getting chased by you girls all the time."

The girls didn't pay much attention to what I was saying. "Please, let me go," I said, "I have to get to class." They still didn't want to listen. What was I to do? If only I could astral project like Edward, maybe I could get someone to come and help me.

(Maybe you can,) said Al, (Brother's alchemical skills were always ahead of mine, but I wasn't really that far behind him. Maybe you have stronger psychic abilities than you think, but they're underdeveloped.)

(But I don't have a clue how to astral project,) I said.

(That's okay, just try. Brother didn't know how either, but he did it.)

I sighed, then closed my eyes and concentrated really hard. The next thing I knew, I could see myself standing in the principals office, where Mom and the two Eds were. I heard myself tell them that Katie needed their help. Wait, I wouldn't talk about myself in the third person. Had I actually succeeded in projecting Al?

I opened my eyes and collapsed from exhaustion. How did Edward always do this without getting exhausted? I heard some rapid footsteps approaching.

"Get away from my sister, you creeps!" I looked up to see Edward wave his hand and send several of the girls sprawling to the floor. That was the first time he had ever had full control of that power. Apparently, he had greater control of it when he was mad.

Edward placed his hand on his forehead. "Ow! That hurts!" His legs started to buckle, but astral Ed quickly ran up and caught him, and let him down gently. Astral Ed then looked back up at the fan girls with a very angry look in his eye.

"You girls are taking this way too far. It was one thing when you were just chasing us, but I won't let you drag Katie into this as well. What will it take to get you to leave us alone?"

The girls shuttered. They knew that astral Ed was the real Edward Elric, and so, consequently, knew just how mad he could get if he was ticked off. They didn't want to get him to that point.

"C-Could you just let me know the answer to this one question? I promise we'll leave you alone after that," said one girl.

Astral Ed sighed and shrugged. "If you'll leave us alone, I'll answer your question."

The girl hesitated, and then asked, "Is he your reincarnation?" motioning towards Edward.

Astral Ed sighed. "Just remember you promise to leave us alone. Yes, he is my reincarnation, but he doesn't have my memories or my mine, so he's not 'me'. Just about all of the FullMetal Alchemist characters have been reincarnated somewhere in or near this town."

"Does that mean that she's Al?" said the girl, pointing to me.

"Hey, you said one question. I'm not answering another," said astral Ed, brushing past her as she pouted. "Come on, Katie; let's get to class before the teachers get too mad at us."

I tried hard to concentrate on my work, but it was difficult because I was too excited and nervous at the same time. I was excited because I had successfully astral projected, even though I had only been able to keep up Al's astral body for a couple minutes, and I was nervous because these girls now knew our secret. What was going to happen now?

I woke up the next morning feeling fresh and alive. It was Saturday morning, so I had slept in a little bit. That had felt good.

I got dressed and walked down the stairs. Before entering the kitchen, I overheard my dad said, "Katie actually astral projected? Do you mean we have four children now?" Both my parents laughed at his little joke. I kind of chuckled too. They were the perfect parents for kids that were as messed up as me and Edward were. They didn't care a bit about us talking to ghosts or using alchemy or astral projecting, just so long as we remained who we were.

I walked into the kitchen. "Good morning," I said.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said my mom as she planted a kiss on my forehead, "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"Yes, it was very good, thank you." I smiled, then went and poured myself a glass of milk.

"We talked to the principal after that little skirmish you encountered with those girls," said Mom, "And he agreed to make them do volunteer work for a few weeks to make up for all the trouble they've caused the two of you."

"What if they refuse to cooperate?" I asked, taking a sip of my milk.

"Then he'll suspend them," she half-chuckled.

I smiled. That was one nice thing about going to school in a small town. Issues like this could actually get rectified. A larger school might have to overlook it in order to solve a bigger problem.

"So, what are you going to do today?" asked Mom.

I put my empty glass in the sink and filled it with water. "I'm thinking about visiting Ms. Madison and Jimmy today." Ms. Madison was the clairvoyant lady that had been able to see Edward when he was still a ghost. We had been visiting her a couple times each month since then, but I hadn't visited her at all in the past month and a half. I had a little catching up to do.

"That would be a nice thing to do," said Mom. "Hmm…Do you think she's a reincarnation of somebody you once knew?"

I snapped my eyes at her. "Do you know anything?"

She chuckled. "No, I don't know anything. I'm just getting used to all the weird things that have happened since Halloween last year. Everyone you know now seems to be a reincarnation of someone you knew then, and she's even a strong psychic."

I chuckled. "You're probably right then. She probably is someone I knew in my past life."

"When you find out who she is, tell me. I'm curious to know." Mom had been watching the FullMetal Alchemist program a lot since she's found out that we were actually reincarnations of the characters in that show, so she knew about every character involved.

"I will, when I find out. How is Edward doing; would he like to come?"

Mom sighed. "Well, his headache's gone, but he's still pretty sick. He might want to send astral Ed though. You can always ask him."

I went to Edward's room. He had been sleeping, but he woke up as soon as I entered the room. He smiled.

"Hi, Katie, what's up?" he said in a groggy voice.

"I was going to see Ms. Madison today, and I was just wondering if you or astral Ed felt like coming along."

Edward pushed himself up and took a few deep breaths. He was obviously quite tired. "Sure, I'll come along. I need to get out, anyway." He carefully stood up, and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Okay, okay, I'll let you out too."

He closed his eyes and astral Ed appeared beside him. I put my hands on my hips and chuckled. "What are you trying to do, freak her out? She's never seen the both of you before."

Edward laughed. "She should be able to handle it. She's just as strange as we are."

"Yeah, she treated me like a normal human being when I was just a ghost," said astral Ed. "I can't say that there's much difference now, but still…" He chuckled.

I smiled. "Well, you two get ready while I eat breakfast. We'll leave just after breakfast."

"Yes, ma'am!" both boys said at once while saluting me. I shook my head and walked out of the room.

As soon as we were all ready, we stepped out the door and began walking toward Ms. Madison's house. We had to stop every few minutes for Edward to catch his breath, but we were still making decent progress, in spite of that.

When we were about halfway there, I felt something land behind me. Before I could spin around to see what it was, I hear the words, "Well, after a hundred year, we finally meet again, chibi-san."

We spun around and stared into the face of Envy.

_**There's your chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Now review!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Wow, you guys sure like Envy, don't you? I didn't know that introducing him would be such a popular idea! Heh. Well, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. Why do I always say this? Don't you guys know this by now?**_

This is Edward. I stared at the green-haired man before me, and my heart rate sped up. I didn't remember him personally, but I still knew who he was. Worse yet, he knew who I was. How could I fight him without my memories, especially being ill?

Envy laughed. "How did you accomplish that, chibi-san? How did you get to be two people?" I didn't say a word, and I couldn't move. I was too scared.

"Well, it's not like it matters how it happened," Envy shrugged his shoulders, "I'll just have to kill both of you."

He moved to grab astral Ed, but his hand just passed right through him. Envy hadn't expected that. He chuckled. "So, you've gained a new power since I've seen you last. This will be even more interesting than I thought."

Envy lunged for me, but being sick, I couldn't get out of his way. Katie quickly pushed me out of the way, clapped her hands together, and placed them on Envy's chest, which gave him something like and electrical shock.

He jumped back. "Who the heck is this kid? When did she see the Gate?" That's right, those that have seen the Gate can perform transmutations without a transmutation circle, and Al had definitely seen the Gate.

"Just leave her alone; she has nothing to do with you!" I yelled, "I'm the one you want; come and get me!" I turned and took off running. I didn't know how long I could keep up this pace, since I was really overexerting myself, but at least I'd get him away from Katie.

I heard someone running beside me. No, I thought, Don't catch up with me yet.

"The only way to defeat Envy is if we blend together."

I turned to see the one who had spoken. Thank goodness, it was only astral Ed, not Envy, who had caught up with me. Envy wasn't far behind though, so we kept running.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"We need our minds to merge together and become one," said astral Ed, "We won't be able to defeat him separated like this."

"Can we even do that? Both of our minds are quite different from each other's."

"Of course it can be done," said astral Ed, "But only an extreme situation can make it possible."

"Is this situation extreme enough?" I dropped to my knees, panting. "I can't go any farther."

"You have to! You'll be killed! We'll be killed! Katie will be killed!"

Katie. No, I wouldn't let anything happen to her. No matter what it took, no matter what I had to sacrifice, I wouldn't let anything happen to her.

I stood back up, weakly. I didn't have much strength left, but I was going to go until I dropped. I had to persevere for Katie's sake.

"I hope this situation is extreme enough," I said, "Because I'm going to try and blend the two of us."

Astral Ed nodded. Envy was nearly upon me. I stood facing him, waiting for him. I brought my hands up, ready to clap them together. Here goes nothing, I thought, this is for Katie.

I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard as I clapped my hands together, then thrust them out against the chest that I knew was Envy's. I'd try the same method Katie had tried, but pack a little more punch into it. Edward Elric should be able to do that, right?

I felt a tremendous amount of energy coursing through my hands, more energy than had ever gone through me when astral Ed performed a transmutation using my body. This was different. This was very different.

I finally stopped and opened my eyes. Envy was nowhere to be seen. I didn't know where he'd gone, but at least the immediate threat was over with. At least Katie would be safe now. With that thought, I collapsed.

* * *

This is Katie. After Edward had run off like that, I headed straight for Ms. Madison's house, since she was nearby. I needed her help to find Edward.

After a few minutes of searching in her car, we finally found him collapsed onto a sidewalk, completely unconscious. There was no sign of Envy, and Edward was still breathing, so that was a good sign. He was pretty badly hurt though, so we placed him in the car and rushed him to the hospital.

My family and Ms. Madison and Jimmy visited Edward a few hours later, when we were informed that he had finally woke up, and was starting to recover.

We walked into his room, and I threw my arms around him. I was so glad that he was alright! "Don't ever scare me like that again!" I said.

"I'm sorry," he half-chuckled, "I hadn't exactly planned on passing out. I'm just glad that you're okay."

"I'm fine, thanks to you," I chuckled a bit, "Thank you. How's astral Ed?"

Edward sighed. "There's no longer a difference between the two of us. We are one and the same now."

"You're one and the same? There's only one mind in you now?" I asked, surprised, "Does that mean that you have your memories back?"

"Yes," he said, "I now have all my memories of being Edward Elric and of being Edward Greene."

I half-smiled. I was glad that he'd regained his memories, but I had to admit that I was going to miss seeing Edward and astral Ed together. They were now united together into one mind. I knew that that was best.

(I guess that I'll be going back into dormancy,) said Al, (Now that the need has been met.)

(No! I don't want to lose you!) I replied.

(But what I was brought here for has been solved, and I hardly even did anything to help. Brother figured it out almost entirely by himself.)

(True,) I said, (But that doesn't mean that the need has been met. Perhaps you weren't called up for his sake. Perhaps it was for my sake. I still need you. That need has not yet been met.)

I could feel his smile inside of me. (If there's still a need,) he said, (Then I'll stay.)

(Thank you,) I almost sobbed. Al was really the only person who truly understood me. Edward understood me pretty well, but not nearly as well as Al. I couldn't see how I could live without either one of them.

We sat and talked with Edward for quite a while. We even did some catching up with Ms. Madison, since she was, naturally, extremely curious as to what had just happened. It took a long time to tell her the story, since it was indeed a long story, but we told her everything that had been going on for the past few weeks.

Ms. Madison chuckled. "I wish I had gotten the chance to meet astral Ed."

Edward put his hand over his face. "You've already met me, just not as an astral projection. Don't you remember meeting me as a ghost? That was the same mind as was in astral Ed. The only thing different now is that I have a material body, and both minds were blended into one. Neither one of us lost our identity in the blending."

Ms. Madison smiled. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that Katie's description of the two of you together sounded quite amusing.

Edward chuckled. "I can still astral project, you know. I might even be able to split my personality between myself and my astral projection, to get almost the same effect."

"Really?" I said, "Could you try it?"

Edward shrugged. "I could try, but I doubt that I'll be able to do very well under this medication." He closed his eyes, and astral Ed once again appeared beside him.

"Are you the same astral Ed we've known all along?" I asked.

Astral Ed shrugged his shoulders. "Almost. Both of us have exactly the same mind now, but our personalities are different when he's astral projecting me."

"So then, does that mean that both of you can do both alchemy and telekinesis?" I asked.

"Yeah, basically, but I still would need a body to do so. I prefer to use his body though, since it's a perfect fit," said astral Ed.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME SHORT?" shouted Edward.

"NO, I'M NOT CALLING YOU SHORT, SHORTY!" returned astral Ed.

"YOU JUST CALLED ME SHORT!" yelled Edward.

"I DID NOT!" yelled astral Ed.

"Okay, okay," I said, shaking my head, "I'm convinced. Your personalities weren't affected by the blending."

The boys chuckled as they realized how foolish they had been. After all, they were exactly the same person, and exactly the same height. Then, astral Ed vanished.

"Where did astral Ed go?" I asked.

Edward sighed. "I couldn't keep up his, my, astral body for very long under the influence of this medication they've got me on."

I understood that. It's amazing that he could astral project at all under that medication. His psychic powers must be pretty darn strong.

Just then, the nurse came in, carrying two bouquets of flowers. They both had cards attached saying something like "Get Well Soon". We wondered who they were from. For all we knew, they could be from anyone. News travels fast in small towns.

Edward opened up the first card and read the message. "Sorry to hear about your accident. If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know. We're sorry for all the trouble we've caused you and your sister. Get well soon. The Edward Elric/Greene fan club."

Edward chuckled. So, these girls finally decided to show some respect for Edward? That was nice to hear. Who was the other card from?

Edward opened the other card and read it. "When I heard about your accident, I cried. You're the best friend I've ever had, even though I just met you. I don't feel like we just met though. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I'll come and visit you soon. Much love, Annabelle."

Edward sighed. He had this dreamy look in his eyes. It was a look that I'd never seen on his face before. Did he have feelings for this girl? I was going to have to find out, somehow. I knew I couldn't ask him directly, because he'd just deny it. I'd have to find another way.

After a while, the nurse came back to tell us that visiting hours were over, so we all hugged Ed and said our goodbyes, then left. We'd promised that we'd visit again tomorrow.

While I was on my way home in the back of the car, I couldn't help but wonder what had ever happened to Envy back there. I was sure that Edward hadn't actually killed him, and I didn't know if and when he would be back. I would have to learn a little more about homunculi. There must be some way to defeat him.

I leaned back in my seat and sighed. Just get well soon, Brother, I though, that's all I ask.

_**Phew! That was a lot of typing! My fingers hurt now, hehe. (Yes, I know, it's not a very long chapter, and I have another chapter to type up on another story. My fingers just don't want to take the strain today, I guess. Heh.)**_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hey, everyone! Sorry that it took me so long to update this story. I was too low on inspiration to figure out what to do next. I'm still pretty low on it, so I could really use some suggestions on what you'd like to see in the story, even if they're obvious. (Hey, I get so obsessed with my paranormal and metaphysical plots that I sometimes forget the obvious.)**_

**_Anyway, hope that you enjoy the chapter. I have no idea whether it's any good or not, but you're welcome to let me know. Heh._**

_**Disclaimer: I do not, never did, and never will own FullMetal Alchemist. I honestly don't know why I have to say that, isn't it obvious?**_

This is Edward. I had just finished eating the breakfast I was served when Annabelle walked into the room. I smiled. "Hi, Annabelle."

"Hi…Edward," she blushed. I chuckled.

"So, what are you doing today?" I asked her.

"I'm just visiting you. I have nothing else planned."

I smiled again. "I'm glad that you came to visit. I was lonely, and I love your company."

She blushed again, and moved closer to me. I suddenly sat upright in bed. When she moved that close, I felt it.

"You're not Annabelle!"

"Edward, how can you say that? Of course I am!"

"You can't fool my senses, Envy."

Suddenly, Annabelle smirked, and then transformed into Envy. "You're pretty perceptive, chibi-san, but that still won't save you." He moved to attack me, but just then, a bunch of security guards ran in and grabbed him.

"What? How? Who?" asked Envy, all confused.

I held up a little remote control device. "This lets me call the nurse without getting out of bed. Get with the times, Envy."

Envy slinked out of the security guards' grasp, turned to me, and said, "Alright, I'll let you win this time, but Annabelle's not going to get off so easily." With that, he turned and jumped over the security officers into the hallways and out of sight.

"What the heck just happened?" asked one of the security officers, "Don't tell me that that was Envy."

I nodded my head. "It was. He's after me and my sister, and now he's going after a friend of mine. Please, get the doctor in here. I need him to take me off these drugs!"

"But, if Envy's after you…Then you must be Edward Elric reincarnated!" said one of the security guards.

I slapped my hand on my forehead. "Not another one, please! Just get the doctor, please!"

"Are you Edward Elric's reincarnation?" asked the security guard.

"What the heck does it matter whose reincarnation I am?" I yelled. "I need to see the doctor now, before something terrible happens to one of my friends. Please, I beg you!"

The guard finally consented to go get me my doctor, but he left the other security guards in the room, just in case Envy decided to come back.

After a few minutes, my doctor appeared in the room. I asked him to take me off of all the drugs I was on. Naturally, he didn't want to and he reminded me that I wasn't free to make decisions like that at my age, so I had to make him call my parents and debate it out with them.

Finally, I won, so he took me off of all the drugs he had me on. All those painkillers that are lifesavers for some could end up being a death sentence for Annabelle. I had to be able to connect with her, but I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to do it, since the effect of the drugs hadn't worn off yet.

I decided to try in any case. I closed my eyes and felt for Annabelle's presence. I found myself running up from behind her as she was walking down the street to somewhere.

"Annabelle!" I called.

She spun around. "Edward, are you astral projecting? I was just on my way to visit you."

I finally caught up with her, and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Annabelle, listen to me. Envy is after me, and he wants to harm anyone that's important to me, including you. He mentioned you by name. Please keep on your guard. I can't astral project for long periods of time until these drugs wear off."

"Who's Envy?" she asked.

"He's the guy that you saw kill me in your memory."

She gasped. She apparently didn't know what to think or say or do. The poor thing, I really couldn't blame her.

"I can't hold up this astral body any longer. Try to stay safe." I then opened my eyes back at the hospital.

"What were you concentrating so hard on?" asked a nurse who had apparently entered the room while I was astral projecting. "You had me worried there, for a bit."

"Sorry about that," I said. I didn't care to tell her about my astral projecting ability. It would cause too many questions to be asked that I didn't feel like answering.

"Could you hand me my orange juice?" I asked. That astral projection had taken a lot of energy, and I needed to build up my strength.

"What orange juice?" she said, looking around. Oh great, I had to get a spacey nurse, didn't I?

"That orange juice right there!" I pointed to it, annoyed. All of a sudden, the glass picked up and flew at me. Thankfully, I caught it before it crashed into anything. Darn, I thought that I'd gotten control of that ability.

The nurse's jaw dropped, and she said nothing for several moments. I didn't care to wait around for her to say anything, so I just started drinking my orange juice as if nothing had happened. I needed the sugar too badly to worry about her reaction.

"You're…telekinetic!" she finally said. I just continued to drink my orange juice in silence. I wasn't sure whether it was better to confirm or deny my ability, so I didn't do either one.

"Why don't you say something?" said the nurse, "I think that telekinetic ability is awesome! I'm going to go and tell everyone that I have a telekinetic patient!" She jumped up and ran out of the room before I even had a chance to try and stop her.

Darn! I thought as a leaned back into my pillow. I have my memories back, but now I'm helpless in the hospital, Annabelle's in danger, and now I'm at the mercy of a spacey, gossipy nurse. Things couldn't get any worse.

Of course, I shouldn't have jinxed it, because right after I thought that, things got worse.

_**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now, review!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Wow! I finally updated! Can you believe it? It just took me awhile to come up with another twist to the story. (I tend to refuse to write if I don't have a clue of some interesting twist to through into the chapter. Just me, I guess.) Hope you like this chapter!_**

**_Disclaimer: I still don't own FMA. Sorry, just don't, and I don't have a witty saying to go along with it either. How about coffee and a donut?_**

Envy sauntered into the room, dragging both Annabelle and Katie behind him. "We meet again, Chibi-san," he said, "Now I'm going to give you a choice. I'm going to kill one of these girls. Which one should I kill? Choose now, or I'll just kill both of them."

I gasped. There was absolutely no way that I could choose between Katie and Annabelle! I wasn't in the least bit willing to let either one of them die. I looked up at Envy, and said, "If you let them go, both of them, I'll let you kill me."

"Brother, no!" shouted Katie, who was promptly kicked by Envy. This caused Annabelle to snap into action and grab a nearby object to hit Envy with. Envy was of course too fast to be hit, as he dodged her swing, and then threw her to the floor and began kicking her.

"Rosé!" I yelled. Wait, did I just call her Rosé? Was Annabelle… Rosé?

Katie then closed her eyes, and concentrated. Al appeared behind Envy. "Hey, Envy, look here!"

Envy spun around, and saw Al standing behind him. "You!...Where did you come from?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," said Al, who proceeded to start throwing punches and kicks at Envy. He wasn't attempting to defeat Envy, since he obviously knew he couldn't, but he was trying to distract him long enough to let Katie and Annabelle escape his grasp.

Al began to flicker. Katie couldn't keep him up much longer. I closed my own eyes and astral projected over to the fight scene. The funny thing was that I astral projected to the same place Al had been just as he disappeared, so it gave the appearance of transforming from one person to the other.

Envy jumped back, startled, in the process loosening his grip on the girls, so they were able to break free from his grasp. Astral Ed looked up at Envy and smirked. "What's the matter, Envy? You can't handle anyone being able to transform besides you?"

"Who are you?" demanded Envy.

Astral Ed smirked once again. "If you defeat me, I'd be happy to tell you."

Envy rushed astral Ed, and of course passed right through him, though he thought astral Ed had simply jumped out of the way. He turned and began to charge again, when astral Ed grabbed his wrist. "Would you like to know what it feels like to have a soul?"

Without waiting for an answer, astral Ed entered Envy's body. Envy panicked, and began thrashing about, as if by doing that, he could get the intruder to leave. Of course, it didn't help, and astral Ed was beginning to control Envy's movements somewhat, just enough to freak him out.

"Envy," said astral Ed through him, "If you so much as lay a finger on my friends, I'll kill you."

"Okay, I'll leave them alone, just get out of me!" he screamed. Astral Ed stepped out of Envy, and turned to look at him.

"So, you can't handle having a soul in your body after all. Why do you persist, if having a soul isn't what you really want?" said astral Ed. Envy didn't answer, as he was still too freaked out. He turned and ran out of the room. We were all safe, for now.

I turned to the two girls and asked them if they were alright. They said they were, even though Katie was a bit tired. The poor thing, she had had to astral project where it takes so much out of her.

"So...Edward...what was it that you called me earlier?" asked Annabelle, shyly.

I felt myself blushing a bit, and then I said, "Oh, uh, I don't know...just a slip of the tongue, I guess."

"Was that the name of a person you knew in your past life?" she asked. I sighed and nodded.

"You do remind me a lot of her," I said, "Maybe you even are her."

She clapped her hands together and smiled. "You know who I was in my past life?"

"I said maybe," I reminded, 'I'm not absolutely positive. Maybe if you tell me some more of your memories, I could confirm it."

"...Well..." she said shyly, "...this doesn't make much sense, but...but I remember being attacked by a large bird."

"And someone in armor saved you?" I finished. She nodded, and continued to blush. Yep, she was Rosé. No wonder I was so drawn to her.

"Does that mean that I'm her?" she asked, "Is she a character in the FullMetal Alchemist series too?" I chuckled and said yes to both questions.

Just then, one of the nurses walked in. I hadn't seen her before. This one had a really kind expression on her face, like she was really sweet and gentle, which was a big relief to me considering how that last nurse had acted.

"We heard you had some trouble earlier," said the nurse.

I practically laughed in the midst of a sigh. "Boy, you have no idea," I said.

She chuckled. "Well, we'll see to it that that won't happen again."

"I sure hope not," I said.

She smiled. "Here, let me take your vital signs." She proceeded to test my pulse and my blood pressure and my breathing and the like. While she was doing so, I noticed that I was getting a very strange vibe from her. It wasn't a bad one, it was a very good one for that matter, but it was a very strange one.

I looked up at her. "May I ask your name?"

"Sure," she said, "My name is Joy."

"Nice name," I said, "Have I met you before?"

"Um, I don't think so," she said, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering," I said, quite confused.

She chuckled. "I understand. You'll get it soon enough." What was that supposed to mean?

She finished her checking up and then left the room. I leaned back in my bed and sighed. Finally, I'd gotten a nice nurse. I spent the next few hours conversing with Katie and Annabelle, since they were visiting me. Apparently, Katie had sensed something a little unusual about Joy too. I was just dying to know what it was.

I pushed the button to call the nurse. When the receptionist came on to ask me what I wanted, I asked if she could send Joy into the room. "We don't have anyone here by that name," she said.

"But then who was that that came and saw me earlier?"

"Nobody came in to see you earlier," she said, "We were just about to send someone in now." I shivered. Who was this woman?

"Is anything the matter?" asked the woman after a moment of silence.

"Uh no, nothing's the matter," I said, "I don't need a nurse after all, thank you anyway."

I leaned back and sighed. Who was this woman? Katie and Annabelle just stared, wondering the same thing.

Just then, someone walked in. "You called for me?" she said. It was Joy. I quickly sat up in bed.

"Who the heck are you?"

She made a funny, puzzled expression and said, "I'm your nurse, of course."

I shook my head. "No, you're not. You don't even work here. Who are you really?"

She chuckled a little bit, and then smiled. "You're right, I don't really work here, but I'm still your nurse. I was sent here to protect you."

"To protect me from what?" I asked.

"From Envy," she said.

The three of us gasped. "How…How do you know about that?"

"I'm one of the 'Fruits'," she said.

"The…whats?" I said.

"The 'Fruits'," she said, "You know, as in the fruits of the spirit? I'm Joy."

I thought for a second. "Wait…You're not saying that you're a…"

Before I could finish my sentence, she had pulled her rubber glove off of her hand. It had the seal of the Ouroboros on it. Just as I had suspected. She was a homunculus. But why was I getting such a good vibe from her?

I narrowed my eyes and glared at her. "What are you doing here?" I asked through clenched teeth.

She replied calmly, "As I said, we're here to protect you. You're such an important person that it would be a huge loss if anything happened to you, as well as if anything happened to your sister, being the reincarnation of Al."

Katie and I gasped. She knew about that too? "How…How do you know all this?"

"Our master knows a lot about you," she said, "And he saw you when you were first attacked by Envy. He just wants to help you."

"But how do I know I can trust you?" I said. "You're a homunculus."

She sighed. "I know, but I'm one of the Fruits, like I told you. The Fruits and the Sins have been enemies for centuries, millennia even."

I still had my doubts. How could I trust a homunculus? Katie must've noticed my doubting, and so she turned to me and said, "It's true, Brother. The Fruits and the Sins are both represented in the Bible. The Sins are represented as something bad, but the Fruits are represented as something really good."

"I don't ever read the Bible," I said.

"Well you SHOULD," she said.

"Why?" I asked, "I don't believe in God."

"But there's still a lot of good stuff in there," said Katie.

"What are you, a Unitarian Universalist?" I asked. That made Joy laugh. Okay…a homunculus laughing…maybe she wasn't so bad.

I turned to her. "So…where are the rest of you?"

"Oh…they're…around," she said. "I don't know exactly where. I think that Charity might be on the premises though."

I cleared my throat. "Do you guys have special abilities like the Sins do?"

Joy laughed again. She seemed to really live up to her name. "Yes, of course we do. We're homunculi, silly. I can convert my body into pure energy, so they kind of want me to stick around you most often, since I can become a force field."

"You can do that?" asked Katie excitedly.

Joy laughed again. "Yes, I can, sweetheart. The only thing is that I can only be in one place at one time, so if you two are separated, I can't protect both of you at once."

"That's understandable," she said.

"So…then…" I said, a bit unsure of myself, "What then does Charity do?"

Just then, a strong breeze rushed into the room. Joy chuckled and said, "That."

The breeze swirled in the center of the room, and materialized into another woman. So this was Charity. Joy and Charity. This was getting interesting.

"So you're Edward Elric?" said Charity, "I've always wanted to meet you."

"First off," I said, "My name is Edward GREENE, and secondly…I don't know what to say about that." Heck, I'd never had a homunculus for a fan before. She chuckled at that. Was I ever going to get used to these happy homunculi? Why were they so happy, anyway?

I think that Katie must've been wondering the same thing, because she turned to Joy and Charity and asked, "Why is it that you're so happy when the others are so upset about having been created?"

"It sort of depends on how you were raised," said Joy. "The Sins weren't born 'the Sins'. They became the Sins because they were first abandoned by their creators, whether intentionally or not, and then raised by somebody who used them for evil. But with us, we were all lovingly raised by our creators. Our current master actually has created some of us. Our other creators have passed on long ago. Otherwise, they wouldn't have left us."

Edward looked down at his lap and frowned. I felt Al frowning too. They must've both been feeling sad about the way they had abandoned Sloth, even though it hadn't been intentional. They hadn't known anything about homunculi then. Heck, until this moment, none of us had ever known that there were good homunculi.

Did I forget to mention that this was Katie speaking now? I turned back to the two homunculi before us, and asked, "So, when are we going to get to meet the rest of you?"

Charity smiled. "Oh, whenever they decide that it's time to meet you." I sighed. Yep, they were definitely homunculi. They didn't care much about time like humans did. I just wished that they'd care a little bit more, since it's a lot more convenient to plan everything according to time.

Joy butted into my thoughts. "So, it would be a lot easier for us to protect you if we got to know you a little bit better. Tell me, how was it that you guys had managed to defeat Envy? Did I really see what I thought I saw back there? Did you guys actually astral project?"

I snapped my eyes up at her. "What do you know about astral projection?"

She laughed. "Not much…but that's what it looked like to me. It sure scared the heck out of Envy though." Ed, Al, and I all laughed. That it did. That it did.

I looked over to Edward. If we were going to trust these homunculi and try and have them protect us, I wanted it to be his decision, not mine. He must've sensed my questioning look, because he sighed, looked down at his lap, and was silent for a moment.

Finally, he spoke, "Well, it looks to me like we only have two choices: Either expose ourselves to getting attacked by Envy, or hope that you're telling the truth and trust you. I guess that we have a better chance of survival if we trust you. I just hope that you don't betray that trust."

Charity put her hand underneath his chin and made him look into her eyes. "We would never betray anyone's trust, especially not anyone that we were protecting." Edward actually smiled a small smile. I could understand why. These people gave us both good vibes. I was pretty sure that they were trustworthy. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I felt I could trust them.

**_Did you like that chapter? Let me know by reviewing. I'll make sure to update soon if I get a lot of reviews. Since the inspiration's thin on this story right now, I'll need a lot of encouragement to get me to keep going. Please do indeed review, okay? Thanks a bunch!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Hey, everyone! I FINALLY managed to get this one updated! Yeah! It took me a long time to get an idea. Basically, I actually decided to read up on astral projection instead of just guessing like I had been, so that gave me a little inspiration, hehe. Hope that this proves to be entertaining enough for you._**

Disclaimer: Hmmm...Meatball! (Sorry, I borrowed your joke, Sakura-chan. I'll just leave everyone else to try and figure out what the heck I'm talking about, hehehe.) Anyway, I don't own FMA.

That night, I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes, but I couldn't go to sleep. I had way too much on my mind, as so much had happened lately. Not only was I now carrying the dual identities of Edward Elric and Edward Greene, but Envy was attacking me and those I cared about, and what's more, I now learn of the existence of a set of "good" homunculi, if there is such a thing, that have been sent to protect us from Envy. It was all a lot to swallow, especially since all this had taken place in a matter of days.

I wanted answers...answers to the questions of how to solve these problems that it seemed I had gotten myself into, as well as my loved ones. The urge to sleep started coming on, however, and I couldn't fight it, so I finally let it overtake me.

The next thing I knew, I woke up, but it was still dark outside. I didn't open my eyes, but I could tell that it was still dark without even looking. I tried to move, but found to my horror that my limbs wouldn't budge a muscle. What was going on? Was I pinned in place by something? Had there been something in the drugs to induce this, even though the effects of whatever drugs I had been on should have worn off by now?

I couldn't find any logical reason that I couldn't move, so I tried turning this way and that, but to no avail. I was really stuck. Finally, I gave one last twist, and I fell out of bed. The funny thing was that once I was out of bed, I continued falling, and fell right through the floor, right through the ground, right through everything.

"Okay, now this is weird," I said to myself, "I must be dreaming, because this is just crazy. Of course...it's even crazier to know that I'm dreaming...does that mean that I can control what happens in it?"

I righted myself and decided to float upward. Not back through the floor I had just come through, by all means no, but up all the same. It felt like I was traveling through a vast void of nothingness, for I couldn't quite see, hear, or feel anything...not in the way I was used to anyway...but it felt exhilarating, nonetheless.

Soon I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see who it was that was standing there, but needless to say, I couldn't see anything. I tried to call out to the person, but found that I couldn't speak with my mouth. "Well, if this is a dream, I should be able to communicate with just my thoughts," I said to myself. So, I called out to the being before me, (Who are you?)

The being didn't respond directly to the question, but instead asked one of his own. "Have you come here looking for answers?"

I thought back (Yes) in response, hoping that this being would help me, somehow. This may be a dream, but sometimes dreams can offer quite useful information.

"The substance all matter consists of is pure energy. The physical realm in and of itself is actually an illusion, merely created as a teaching ground for spirit beings wishing to expand their knowledge and experience."

(But...But that can't be! The physical realm is real, and-)

I was quickly interrupted by this being, who said, "Indeed, the physical realm is real, just as real as the realm you are in now. Everything you dream up, imagine, and think of, is indeed real in its own rite. The worlds you create in your own mind are just as real as the one you dwell in, only the worlds your mind creates vanish as soon as you stop thinking about them. Some worlds last for only a few seconds by your time, while some last thousands of years or more. Each and every one is just as real as the next."

This wasn't making any sense to me. What did it have to do with the questions I was trying to ask? Who was this guy, anyway? He had never answered that question, come to think of it. I decided to try again. (Who are you?)

Before he had a chance to answer, I felt myself being pulled down, at an alarming speed. Soon I was back in my hospital room, and I landed in my bed. I felt the sensation of my body being difficult to move again, but this time, with a bit of concentration, I was able to move my limbs, and then finally open my eyes. It turned out that a nurse was shaking me awake to check on my vital signs. No wonder my dream had ended so early.

"Boy, it sure took you long enough to wake up," she said, "Is something the matter?"

"No," I replied, "I was just having a really weird dream, that's all." She gave me an inquisitive look, so I proceeded to spill the whole thing to her. Heck, she already knew I was telekinetic, so I didn't think it would hurt too much for her to know about a strange dream I'd had, and besides, I had to talk to somebody, even if I didn't like this individual very much.

As I was telling her the strange events in my dream, I noticed that her eyebrows kept pressing together, forming wrinkles in the spot between the eyebrows. I thought that a bit odd, but continued relaying the dream to her until I finally came to the part where I had finally woke up in bed.

She then sat down beside me on the bed, and looked deep into my eyes. "Tell me, Edward, have you ever astral projected?"

I gasped and looked up at her. How could she possibly know about that? Hardly anyone knew. "I, uh...astral project?...What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because," she said, "That didn't sound like an ordinary dream to me. That sounded like the sort of phenomena that occurs with an astral projection."

"But...that couldn't be...I've astral projected before, and I-" I realized what I just said, and promptly clapped my hand over my mouth. The nurse just stifled a chuckle, and continued to look at me.

"I just knew you had...you seem the sort of person who would discover something like that on accident. But tell me, have you normally projected near the physical realm or the astral realm?"

"Ummm...the physical?" I guessed. After all, I had always seen and talked with people when I had projected before, so it had to be close to the physical, right?

"I thought so," said the nurse, "Tonight was your first 'real' astral projection, where you actually projected into the astral realm. The being you were talking to was likely one of your guides."

"What's a guide?" I asked, "And how do you know all this anyway?"

The nurse smiled for a moment before responding, and then said, "A guide is simply a spirit being that has dedicated itself to helping you through your life. The reason that I know all this is because I tend to read metaphysical books from time to time. It's kind of a hobby of mine, though I can't say that I have any sort of talent when it comes to psychic abilities. That's why I got all excited when I saw you demonstrate your telekinetic abilities earlier."

I sighed and placed my hand on my head. She apparently noticed my reaction, because she then said, "Don't worry, I didn't spread it around like I said I was going to. I told my husband about it, and he reminded me that you probably didn't want that kind of publicity, so I should just keep my mouth shut...so I did."

I took my hand off of my forehead and looked at her. "You mean, you didn't tell anyone but him?"

She shook her head. "Not a soul."

I smiled. "Thanks," I said, "I'm getting enough publicity lately as it is, and I certainly didn't need more."

The nurse chuckled and then stood up to leave. I lay back down into my pillow, about to try and rest some more, when I suddenly sat up and stretched my hand out in her direction. "Wait!"

"Yes?" she said as she turned around to face me.

"Um..." I began, "...Just before I astral projected...I had woke up to find that I couldn't move a muscle, and that scared me. Was there something in the drugs to cause that, or..."

She laughed. "No, nothing strange happened there...except for the fact that you woke up at that time. Everyone's body shuts down and takes on a sort of paralysis during their sleep. If they didn't, they would act out their dreams, and that could be rather dangerous. The only unusual thing in your situation is that you woke up during that time, and found yourself unable to move, so you managed to find a way out of your body so that you could continue to move around in a way."

"So...it's nothing that I should worry about?"

"Not at all," she said, "If you have that happen again, just exit your body like you did this time, unless you like feeling trapped in your body, which I doubt." She winked at me, and I granted her a slight chuckle in response. I couldn't deny that I did not like the feeling of being trapped in my own body. I was glad that I had managed to find a way out of it when that happened.

"I'm going to go now," she said, "You try to get some more sleep. If you need anything, remember to call for me."

"Thanks," I said. I lay down once again, and heard the door shut as she left the room. I breathed out a sigh as I started thinking. If I had really astral projected and talked with a guide just now, then that information he had given me was probably very helpful information...but it didn't make any sense!

"What do you mean?" I shouted into empty space. I waited, but of course there was no answer. I placed my hands behind my head and just stared at the ceiling. I wished that I had some sort of translation book for communicating with the spiritual realm, but I didn't have that luxury, so I was going to have to figure out what was meant by those statements on my own.

"This is frustrating," I said, as I rolled over on my side. "Here I finally get some information that might prove useful to me, and I don't even have a clue what they're getting at."

I lay there for a few more minutes, brooding over the fact that I didn't have a clue about the meaning of the whole thing, but after a while, the darkness of the room started to get to me, and my eyes began getting heavy. I saw no reason to try and fight sleep this time, so I lay down in my bed and got as comfortable as possible.

"Tomorrow," I said between yawns, "Tomorrow, I plan to get some answers."

**_Thanks to everyone who read this chapter. Now please, leave me some reviews if you want this updated sometime in the next decade, heh. I also need some suggestions, badly. I don't know where to go with this story, since it isn't coming from a sudden blaze of inspiration like "My Body, Your Soul", so I'll need your help here. If you can, try to give me some off the wall, random, crazy suggestions, especially if they have anything to do with the supernatural. That's the way I tend to write, so...yeah. If someone can give me some decent inspiration, I'll actually be able to update this fic soon, so please...HELP! (That's pitiful, I know, heh heh heh.)_**


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